


When in Hydra

by shewritesall



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Natasha Romanov, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra (Marvel), Kidnapping, Missions Gone Wrong, Red Room (Marvel), Whump, romanogers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-19 09:12:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16531664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewritesall/pseuds/shewritesall
Summary: Steve and Natasha take a mission from Nick Fury to track down a group of Hydra and Red Room agents that are teaming up to create something even worse.  Luckily for them, they're catching the group before it gets out of hand and bigger than the two of them can handle.  At least, that's what Fury tells them.Romanogers with Natasha whump. I kept it as in character as I know how, so I hope you enjoy it!





	1. Chapter 1

Steve woke up to noise coming from behind him.  He tensed, keeping his eyes closed as he tried to figure out where he was and if it was possible an enemy had broken into his home.  He tried to think back to how he had fallen asleep and slowly opened his eyes as he remembered. He had woken up from a nightmare and had been on his way to get water in the middle of the night when he found Natasha crying in her room.  Of course, he’d immediately forgotten his water and went to her. She’d had a nightmare as well, so they decided to stay up and watch movies together in the living room. 

Upon opening his eyes, he found Natasha curled up as close to him as possible.  Her arms were wrapped tightly around his middle and their legs were tangled together.  He laid on his back with his arms around her back and his head on the arm of the couch.  He could feel the crick in his neck from the sharp angle his neck had been all night, but he didn’t dare move and risk waking Natasha.  He knew how hard it was for her to sleep soundly, so he wasn’t going to wake her up. On the other hand, he really wanted to find out who was making noise in the kitchen. 

“Cute,”  a voice said.  Steve looked up from where he’d been looking at Natasha to see Sam standing at his feet holding a mug of steaming something. 

“Are our lovebirds finally awake?”  Tony asked, coming into Steve’s view from the kitchen.  Steve figured he’d been the one making noise in the kitchen as he was holding a pot of coffee in one hand and a mug in the other. 

“If you wake Natasha, she just might kill you,”  Steve said quietly. Tony just smirked and poured the coffee into his mug.  He slurped his coffee loudly and Steve glared at him. 

“Aw, don’t fret, Cap,”  Tony said, smirking. “If she was going to wake up from the noise, she would have woken up the moment Sam said ‘cute’.”  Steve knew he was right, but that didn’t keep him from worrying she might wake up anyway. He knew Natasha was a light sleeper, so if she slept through a little noise, the chances were high that she’d stay asleep until something broke or someone purposely woke her up. 

“Still,”  Steve replied, moving one hand off her back to comb through her hair.  When Natasha shifted closer to him, Tony and Sam smirked and Steve rolled his eyes, trying not to blush.  The two disappeared from his sight a few seconds later and Steve was left with a still sleeping Natasha on his chest. 

“Are they gone?”  she mumbled softly, burying her face in the crook of Steve’s neck.  He looked down at her and smiled even if she couldn’t see him. Of course she had woken up without him noticing.  For all he knew, she had woken up before him. 

“Yeah,”  Steve breathed, continuing to run his fingers through her hair.  “They’re gone.” 

“Good,”  she muttered, holding onto Steve tighter and taking a deep breath.  “What time is it?” 

“It is 8:54AM,”  FRIDAY replied. Natasha sighed and slowly pushed herself upright.  Steve sat up as well, pulling his legs out from under her. She sat back on her legs and the blanket hanging from her shoulders fell off when she adjusted her black tank top.  She pulled the hair tie off her wrist and grabbed her long red hair, pulling it up and behind her to get it off her back. 

“Did I smell coffee?”  she asked Steve, tying off her messy bun.  Steve nodded and stood up. He offered her his hand and she allowed him to pull her to her feet.  They walked into the kitchen to see Tony’s coffee pot sitting on the counter. Steve grabbed two mugs and Natasha poured them both coffee while Steve grabbed creamer.  Natasha took her cup before he tried to pour some of the festive pumpkin creamer into her mug. He rolled his eyes with a smile and poured some creamer in his own mug before returning it to the fridge. 

“What’s on your agenda for today?”  Steve asked, standing across from her and leaning against the counter.  Natasha pursed her lips as she thought for a second. 

“I was going to take Wanda shopping this afternoon,”  she replied, shifting to lean against the island behind her.  “I was going to go see if I could break the new punching bag downstairs before that, though.” 

“I’m sure you can,”  Steve told her with a smile.  She smiled back. “I’m not sure Tony will appreciate it, though.”  She shrugged. 

“He just likes the attention he gets when he complains about it,”  she said. Before they could continue their conversation, FRIDAY alerted them to an incoming call from Nick Fury. 

“Let him through,”  Steve said, glancing at Natasha as the line connected.  “Hey, Nick. What’s up?” 

“Rogers,”  Fury greeted.  “I assume Romanoff is with you as well?”  Natasha raised an eyebrow at Steve but he just shrugged. 

“Nah, she’s downstairs killing another bag,”  Steve lied, just to see if Fury would believe him or not.  Based on the disbelieving hum he received, he doubted Fury had bought it. 

“Good morning, Romanoff,”  Fury said. Natasha swallowed her coffee then grinned. 

“Good morning, sir,”  she replied. 

“Right, now that we’ve established I’m not an idiot, I have a mission for you two,”  Fury said. Even though SHIELD was no longer an official agency, Fury would occasionally call the team with missions he didn’t trust to leave for the CIA or FBI. 

“Where to, sir?”  Steve asked, finishing off his coffee and putting his mug in the sink. 

“Germany,”  Fury replied.  “Deep cover, possibly long term.” 

“What?  What’s going on?”  Natasha asked. It had been a long time since she’d been on a mission longer than a week or two.  It had been even longer since she’d been on a deep cover one. 

“We have reason to believe Hydra is reforming there, but this time they’re teaming up with another agency that’s even more powerful,”  Fury told them. Steve frowned as he reached for Natasha’s empty mug to wash it out. 

“What’s more powerful than Hydra?”  Steve asked. Fury hesitated and Steve and Natasha looked at each other. 

“We have reason to believe Hydra is teaming up with what’s left of the KGB Red Room project,”  he answered. Natasha’s eyes widened and her sudden intake of breath caused her to cough. 

“What?”  Steve demanded, leaving the mugs and getting Natasha a glass of water.  “How long have they been working on this? Shouldn’t this be a full team mission?” 

“No, the less recognisable faces the smoother this will go,”  Fury told them. “I need you two because you know each individual program well.  If I thought it would be too dangerous for just the two of you, I’d call the team, trust me.”  Steve watched as Natasha finished off her water and set the glass on the counter. 

“When do we leave?”  she asked. 

“I’m sending you the files now,”  Fury answered. “You leave in one hour.”  With that, the line disconnected and Steve and Natasha were left in silence in the kitchen. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”  Steve asked her. Natasha hesitated before nodding firmly. 

“Yeah,”  she said confidently.  “We’ll be fine.” 


	2. Chapter 2

Just like Nick had said, the files had been sent to Natasha’s phone.  She didn’t bother looking over them until she had packed her duffel full of weapons, her catsuit, and a few civilian clothes.  She also snatched one of Tony’s credit cards, leaving a quick note for Pepper that she had left on a mission and would need the money for things they might need.  She knew Pepper wouldn’t mind, but she didn’t want to risk having the card cancelled when Pepper saw it had been used in Germany. 

“Natasha?”  Natasha looked up to see Wanda still in her pyjamas, standing in the doorway.  Her heart immediately dropped as she realised she wouldn’t be able to go shopping with her that afternoon. 

“Hey, Wanda,”  Natasha said, allowing her to walk into her room.  Wanda sat on the bed and watched as Natasha checked a gun then tossed it in the duffel. 

“We aren’t going shopping, are we?”  Wanda asked. Natasha sighed and shook her head. 

“I’m sorry, Wanda,”  she answered. “Nick called and gave us a deep cover mission; possibly long term.  I probably won’t be back for a couple months or so.” 

“Where are you going?”  Wanda asked. Natasha knew she could be vague and get away with it since she and Wanda had a no mind reading no death deal, so she did. 

“Germany,”  she shrugged.  “Just some Hydra goons popping up.  We’ll be fine.” 

“Steve’s going?”  Wanda asked. Natasha nodded and Wanda smiled.  “Alright. Maybe I can get Vision to take me shopping.” 

“I’m sorry I can’t take you,”  Natasha said again. Wanda waved her off as she stood up to leave. 

“It’s okay,”  she promised. “Have fun in Germany.”  Before Natasha could reply, Wanda had hurried out of her room.  Natasha just smiled and rolled her eyes, reaching for her full duffel bag and phone before going to find Steve. 

* * *

Natasha had read through the files four times before they were even halfway across the Atlantic.  By then, she knew them by heart and had her cover memorised. Steve had set the quinjet on autopilot so he could read the files, but ended up laying across the seats while Natasha read through them two more times.  When she finished the fourth time, Steve had fallen asleep with his head in her lap. Grinning, she bounced her leg to wake him up. He snapped awake and rolled his eyes at her. 

“Are you finally done?”  he asked. Natasha nodded and handed her phone to him to he could read through the files. 

“I’m supposed to be Maria von Kant,”  she told him as he sat up. “A wealthy woman looking to invest in new ideas but was also kicked out of University for injecting a friend with a serum I invented myself.”  Steve hummed. 

“And I’m supposed to be Erik Dietrich?”  Steve asked. Natasha nodded. Of course she’d read that part of the file; it was important to read everything before a deep cover mission.  “An ex-military man now serving as your bodyguard? Where did Nick come up with this?” 

“It’s so we’re likely to be recruited by them,”  Natasha told him. Steve looked horrified at the idea of working for Hydra even if it was for a mission in order to take them down. 

“Do you think it will work?”  Steve asked. Natasha pursed her lips and weighed the chances of it in her head. 

“Possibly,”  she answered.  “It depends on how desperate they are, how well we play the part, and just how badly they need more guards and a crazy scientist.” 

“For the mission’s sake, I hope they’re desperate,”  Steve said. Natasha nodded in agreement. “Are you really okay with this?  Seeing the Red Room again?” 

“It’s not really the Red Room,”  Natasha denied. “It’s just the people that set it up.  Besides, we’re taking them down, not actually joining them.” 

The rest of the trip to Germany is completed in relative silence.  Even now and then, Steve or Natasha would make a comment, but for the most part, they stayed quiet.  Natasha reviewed the files again once Steve had finished with them, trying to keep her mind off the fact that the Red Room was back and running again.  Steve could tell something was on her mind, but he didn’t want to ask. The last thing they needed was tension between them right before a long mission. 

When they finally did arrive in Berlin, Germany, it was late at night and the sun was long gone.  They hauled their things off the quinjet then set it to autopilot back to the Compound. Steve waved down a taxi outside of the airport while Natasha looked for hotels near the outskirts of the city where most of the mission would take place.  Keeping in mind her cover as a wealthy woman, she booked the nicest hotel she could find within twenty minutes of where intel said the Hydra meeting area was. 

“Any luck?”  Steve asked, loading his bags into the back of the taxi.  He grabbed Natasha’s bags as well before she could put down her phone to load them in herself and she rolled her eyes. 

“Yes, actually,”  she replied. She slid into the taxi and gave the man the hotel address in flawless German.  Steve sat back in his seat, looking out the window as they drove across the city. When they arrived at the hotel, Natasha paid the driver and Steve unloaded their bags. 

“Did you already book the rooms?”  Steve asked. Natasha nodded. 

“One room is under Maria von Kant and the other is under Erik Dietrich,”  she answered. “Follow me,” she instructed. Steve grabbed both of their bags and followed her into the hotel. 

He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised at the grandeur of the building, but he couldn’t stop himself from looking around the lobby in barely contained awe.  The chandelier above them was massive and there was a large fireplace to their right, surrounded by expensive leather couches. Butlers stood around, waiting to escort guests to wherever they needed. 

When Steve finally remember he was on a mission and not on vacation, he looked forward to see the desk worker handing Natasha two sets of key cards.  Natasha said something in German and the lady pointed towards their left at an elevator. Natasha thanked the woman then walked towards the elevator with Steve close behind. 

“Fancy place,”  Steve said. Natasha nodded.  Even the elevator was fancier than Steve thought possible.  

Once they reached their floor, Natasha made her way to Steve;s room and unlocked the door.  He followed her in and set their bags around the corner. 

“This is your room,”  Natasha told him. “I’m just down the hall.”  She grabbed her own bags and walked a a little further down the hall.  When she arrived in her suite, she set her things by the bed then looked out the window over Berlin.  She admired her room for a few minutes before returning to Steve. They each had a key to the other’s room, so she knocked then unlocked his door herself. 

“How come you get the suite?”  he asked, watching as she walked into the room.  Natasha let the door close behind her as she flicked on the lights in Steve’s room. 

“I’m the one who’s playing the wealthy scientist,”  Natasha reminded him. Steve just shook his head and set down his things. 

“Next time I’ll tell Nick to let me play the wealthy scientist,”  Steve said. Natasha rolled her eyes playfully and Steve raised an eyebrow at her.  “What? You don’t think I could play the wealthy scientist?” 

“No, I don’t think so,”  she said, smiling as his jaw dropped in mock offense.  “Tell me, what’s Thorium?” she asked, crossing her arms and watching him closely. 

“Thor’s grand-dad,”  Steve answered, knowing it wasn’t correct.  He couldn’t just not give her an answer, though, so what was he supposed to say?  As he’d expected, Natasha burst into laughter and shook her head. 

“It’s an element,”  she told him. Steve pursed his lips and shook his head. 

“Pretty sure I know the elements,”  he replied. Listing each off on his fingers, he said, “Wind, water, earth, and fire.”  Natasha’s laughter increased and Steve smiled. 

“It’s a periodic table element,”  she said. 

“No, it’s not!”  Steve said. He swore he knew all the elements on the periodic table.  Well, at least the ones he’d learned about in earth science back in the 30s.  He was pretty sure Thorium hadn’t been one of them. 

“You’re so cute when you’re frustrated,”  Natasha teased, stepping forward to pinch his cheeks.  Before she could get a good grip, Steve grabbed her wrists in one hand and picked her up.  She yelped as her feet left the ground and she was thrown over Steve’s shoulder. 

“Natasha?”  Steve asked, looking around the room with her over his shoulder.  “Where’d you go? I thought we were having a conversation. Nat?” 

“Let me down,”  Natasha said, reaching down to tickle his sides.  Steve jumped, twisting to get away from her but not succeeding.  He finally just threw her on the bed and she laughed as she bounced back up. 

“There you are,”  he exclaimed. “Disappearing in the middle of a conversation?  How rude of you!” 

“Oh shut up,”  she replied, tugging him onto the bed beside her and reaching for the remote.  “Now, let’s have some TV before the real work begins.” 


	3. Chapter 3

To Natasha’s horror, she discovered she’d spent the night in Steve’s room.  Even if he was supposed to be her bodyguard, spending the nights together wasn’t a good idea.  Carefully, she untangled herself from Steve and stood up to stretch. The clock beside the bed read 9:12AM and she frowned.  Sleeping in on missions wasn’t something she enjoyed even if she hadn’t accounted for the time change. 

“Tasha?”  Steve mumbled, turning his head so he could find Natasha.  He blinked as he saw her standing beside the bed. “You weren’t s’posed to spend the night,”  he said groggily, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. 

“I know,”  she replied.  She had spent more than just that morning telling herself that.  Unfortunately, she’d developed an awful habit of spending nights with Steve after having nightmares.  She would need to make a point of breaking that habit. 

“Where you going?”  he asked as she walked around the bed. 

“To breakfast then my room,”  she answered. She paused at the foot of the bed before opening the door.  “Feel free to sleep longer then join me in the lobby when you’re ready to begin the day.” 

“Mmm,”  Steve groaned, burying his face back in his pillow.  Natasha slipped out of his room silently and walked down the hall to the elevator.  The doors opened and she stepped in to find two other men already standing inside. She nodded at them and pressed the ‘1’ button to get to first floor.  Unsurprisingly, the men were going down to the ground floor as well. 

Natasha made her way to the in hotel restaurant and was seated by the window.  She ordered a bagel and coffee, charging it to her card, then looked out the window as she ate.  The streets were already pretty busy and the restaurant was clearing out. She took her time eating then returned to her room to get dressed.  She had only brought one change of jeans and three shirts, not sure what her cover would be, so she’d need to go shopping later. She considered checking on Steve and ended up knocking on his door five minutes later.  It took him a little while to open the door and when he did, he had wet hair and was only wearing jeans. 

“Nat?  I thought you were downstairs,”  he said. She shrugged. 

“We need to go shopping, so hurry up,”  she told him. Steve opened the door wider and she stepped into his room.  He pulled on a t-shirt and ran his fingers through his hair once. 

“Where are we going?”  he asked, tugging on shoes. 

“Mall, probably,”  she replied. She turned around as he stood up and grinned.  “Ready?” 

“Yes, but can we stop for breakfast on the way?”  he asked, following her out of the hotel room. He stuffed his key card in his back pocket and they walked to the elevator. 

“Sure, but I already ate so it’ll have to be a quick stop,”  she told him. Steve was fine with that as long as they had orange juice and bagels, so Natasha looked for a place with his two demands.  In the end, they ended up stopping at the hotel restaurant and Steve got his bagel to go. Once he’d been fed, they took a taxi to a nearby mall. 

“Is there any particular place we’re going to first?”  Steve asked before biting into his bagel. He followed Natasha up the escalator and stood between her and an older woman behind them. 

“Nope,”  Natasha replied, her eyes even with his from where she stood on a higher step.  “Just find what fits.” Steve nodded and they stepped off the escalator. He had no idea how to shop for deep cover missions, but he knew Natasha did, so he let her lead them around the mall. 

* * *

They had finished shopping by early afternoon and were back at the hotel.  Natasha had contacted Fury and gotten information on where the next meetup for Hydra agents was so they were preparing to head to a club.  Apparently Hydra was now recruiting in strip clubs which meant they really were desperate. Either that or they were aware Natasha and Steve were heading their way, but Natasha doubted they knew that already.  Based on what Fury had told her, they were barely able to function and now was the safest time to infiltrate the site. 

Natasha had just finished zipping up her new dress when her hotel phone rang.  She picked it up and heard Steve on the other end. 

“Ready,”  he told her.  Natasha caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and knew she wasn’t. 

“Head out,”  she instructed.  “I’ll meet you there.”  She hung up before he could reply and walked over to her duffel bag.  At the bottom was a clear bag with a short blond wig placed neatly inside.  She walked into the bathroom with multiple bobby pins, hair ties, and her hairbrush.  After tying her hair back in two tight braids, she wrapped the braids around her head and pinned them down.  She tugged a wig cap over her head then pinned the wig on tightly. She adjusted it so it didn’t look unnatural then smiled to herself. 

She grabbed her hand clutch that held nothing more than a small pistol and multiple knives then headed out of her room.  She didn’t run into anyone on her way down to the lobby, but she did notice a couple heads turn her way as she walked through the lobby.  It wasn’t hard to get a taxi to the club and she even paid the driver a little extra just to keep up the flirty act she’d begun during the drive. 

“ _ Danke, _ ”  she smiled at the driver.  He smiled back and she knew he watched her until she was through the club doors. 

Her first mission was to identify who the Hydra men could be.  Once she did that, she would find Steve so he wasn’t too confused by the blonde hair.  Fortunately for her, a man stood obviously by the stairs of the club, looking more like a bodyguard than a party goer.  She made a mental note of the location and kept an eye for who was allowed back and who came into the club from there. The bar offered a good view, so she made her way over to a stool and sat down. 

“ _ All alone _ ?”  the bartender asked.  Natasha turned to look at him and shrugged sadly.  

“ _ Hopefully not much longer, _ ”  she replied.  She gave the man her order then looked out across the club.  She spotted Steve across the room and noticed his eyes narrow ever so slightly when he spotted her.  She just smiled and turned back to the bartender as he gave her a drink. 

“ _ On the house, _ ”  he said.  Natasha thanked him and took a sip of her drink.  A few seconds later, Steve sat down beside her. 

“Maria?”  he asked. Natasha nodded then pointed him towards the stairwell with her eyebrows.  He looked then nodded. She left her drink behind as she stood up and walked over to the bodyguard. 

“ _ Hello, _ ”  she said.  The man looked her up and down then grunted.  “ _ I would like to meet with the man up those stairs. _ ” 

“ _ Sorry, ma’am, _ ”  the man said.  His Russian accent shining through the German just confirmed her theory that he was here with Hydra.  “ _ No one up there. _ ” 

“ _ Oh, you see, I’m here to apply for a job as a scientist, _ ”  Natasha said.  She spotted his hand drift towards his hip but she continued talking.  “ _ I’ve heard your bosses want something that can control all the world and, well, I’d like to talk to them about something I’ve created. _ ”  The bodyguard stared at her suspiciously then nodded slowly. 

“ _ First door on your left, _ ”  he said.  Natasha thanked him, running her hand down his arm as she passed.  She walked up the stairs and knocked on the door the bodyguard had told her about.  It was pulled open and she walked in. She didn’t recognise the man sitting at the desk, but she recognised the Hydra symbol imprinted on his armband.  He looked up at the sound of her heels and frowned. 

“ _ I fear you have confused this room with another, _ ”  he told her.  He motioned for his men to take her away but Natasha spoke up before the reached her. 

“ _ I’m Maria von Kant and I have a serum you might be interested in, _ ”  she said.  He looked up, hiding his curiosity well, but not good enough.  Natasha continued on to say, “ _ I believe I came up with a mist that can control someone when they are exposed to it. _ ” 

“ _ Continue, _ ”  the man said.  Natasha glared his men down and they backed up on command of their boss.  “ _ How did you come to find out about us, Fräulein von Kant? _ ” 

“ _ I have friends in low places, _ ”  Natasha replied.  She walked up to his desk and he craned his neck to look at her.  “ _ I have a deal for you. _ ” 

“ _ Yes? _ ”  the man asked. 

“ _ You hire me, _ ”  Natasha said bluntly.  “ _ Give me access to your wonderful labs and give me test subjects; in return, I will provide you with the power to control the world. _ ”  The man thought about it for a few seconds and Natasha watched him closely.  He didn’t seem to be about to reject the idea, though. 

“ _ You have yourself a deal, Fräulein, _ ”  he said, holding out his hand for her to shake. 


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Natasha did when she returned to her hotel was take off her wig.  She was barely in the door before she was unpinning it and tugging it off her head.  Steve followed her inside, shutting the door behind them then turning to see two long braids tumbling out of the crown Natasha had put them in.  She left them hanging down her back as she reached to unzip her dress. She let it fall around her ankles without any warning and Steve yelped. 

“Oh, please,”  she snickered, digging around for her pyjamas.  She slipped into them then gave Steve the all clear.  He slowly opened his eyes to find her hanging her black dress up.  She was wearing spandex shorts and a loose t-shirt with her hair still braided. 

“So, since we couldn’t talk in the taxi, I assume the meeting went well?”  Steve asked, shedding his jacket and draping it over a chair. 

“Smoother than Stark’s cars after he oils them,”  she replied. She turned around and sat on her bed.  “You’re looking at Hydra’s new partner scientist: Maria von Kant.”  Steve frowned, but he knew it was just for the mission and that they weren’t really teaming with Hydra.  If anything, Natasha would create a bomb to blow the place to bits. 

“What about me?”  Steve asked. 

“They know I have my own personal bodyguard,”  Natasha answered. Steve raised an eyebrow, silently asking how she’d managed that.  “When your a wealthy woman who likes to get in trouble, you need a personal bodyguard.  Don’t worry,” she told him. 

“Just because you tell me not to doesn’t mean I won’t,”  he said. She shrugged. “I’m going to go change out of this.  I’ll be back.” 

“Actually, we should sleep in different rooms seeing as we’re supposed to be keeping up a cover,”  Natasha said, remembering her promise to herself to stop depending on Steve for a good night’s sleep.  “Besides, most friends don’t sleep together every night.” 

“Alright,”  Steve agreed, refusing to blush at what her last comment implied.  “Just know, you can come down if you have a nightmare.” 

“Same to you,”  she told him. He nodded and said goodnight, walking out of the room and leaving Natasha alone. 

* * *

Natasha wasn’t sure what she expected when a car arrived outside her hotel for her.  The driver asked for Maria von Kant and she was called down to the lobby right after her breakfast with Steve.  They had just finished strategizing for their first day in the Hydra base when they had to leave. Natasha managed to put her wig on quicker than the night before as she’d left her hair braided, so they were walking into the lobby seven minutes after the phone call. 

“ _ Ah, Fräulein von Kant, _ ”  the driver greeted.  Natasha recognised him as the bodyguard from the club and smiled warmly at him.  “ _ Who is your friend? _ ” 

“ _ This is my bodyguard, _ ”  she answered, gesturing lamely at Steve who had no idea what they were saying.  “ _ I was told I could bring him.  He’d make a wonderful guard for the team. _ ”  The man gave her a disbelieving look, but let them both into the car nonetheless. 

The drive to the base was long.  It was far out of town and it was an hour and a half before Natasha spotted it.  They were driven up a long road to the brick building, passing various checkpoints and guards along the way.  By the time they actually made it to the building, Natasha had a good sense of just how secure this place was.  She also wasn’t getting a very “amateur” or “lacking necessities” kind of vibe from it. It seemed to her like this place was fully secured and ready for any potential threat. 

“ _ Follow me, _ ”  the driver said.  Natasha followed him into the building and Steve followed close behind.  They were taken up the stairs and through multiple hallways. Eventually, they stopped outside a large, vault-like door.  “ _ Director Schmidt is inside, Fräulein von Kant, _ ”  the man said. 

“ _ Thank you, _ ”  she replied.  He unlocked the door and Natasha walked in.  Steve followed, aware of the man’s suspicious gaze the whole time.  The door was pulled shut behind them and the man from the night before looked up.  He smiled at Natasha and greeted her warmly. 

“ _ This must be your guard, _ ”  the man, Director Schmidt, said, turning to Steve.  “ _ What is your name? _ ”  Steve didn’t respond, not sure what the man was asking and not wanting to ruin anything.  Director Schmidt turned to Natasha in confusion. 

“ _ He does not speak German, I’m afraid, _ ”  Natasha said, giving Steve a patronizing frown.  “ _ Found him on the streets of America, actually.  Bit useless when it comes to learning languages, but he does well when I need him to take care of someone. _ ” 

“ _ I see, _ ”  Director Schmidt said, eyeing Steve condescendingly.  He turned back to Natasha and began discussing her lab with her.  She would have her own lab with various assistants at her disposal.  Even though she insisted she didn’t need them, Director Schmidt refused to call them off her service.  Eventually, Natasha realised arguing more would be a bad idea and just accepted it. She and Steve could take care of a few lab techs without too much hassle. 

“ _ Thank you again for giving me a lab to work in, _ ”  Natasha said, following Director Schmidt through the halls on their way to her lab.  “ _ It has been a while since I’ve been in one. _ ” 

“ _ It is my pleasure, _ ”  Director Schmidt said.  He stopped in front of what looked like a large vault.  “ _ As long as you provide us with what you promised, I’m sure we will get along very well. _ ”  

“ _ Without a doubt, _ ”  Natasha replied.  The vault opened and Natasha walked in with Steve behind her.  The first thing that made warning bells go off in her head was when she noticed the lab assistants were not normal.  They looked like bodyguards shoved in lab coats and she had no doubt that’s what they were. 

“Great,”  Steve muttered.  Natasha shot him a warning glare. 

“ _ This is Fräulein Maria von Kant, _ ”  Director Schmidt announced, gaining the attention of the lab workers.  “ _ She is your new supervisor. _ ”  The lab workers nodded in her direction then returned to their own work.  “ _ Good luck, Fräulein. _ ”  The large door slammed shut, locking behind him with an audible click. 


	5. Chapter 5

Steve watched as Natasha made her way around the lab all day.  He couldn’t talk to her without risking their cover, unaware of what Natasha had told Director Schmidt.  Nevertheless, it was unlikely Hydra agents didn’t understand English, so he contented himself with silently watching Natasha.  Clearly she wasn’t helpless when it came to chemistry. She mixed chemicals without hesitation and wrote down formulas Steve had no hope of ever understanding. 

It was eight hours later when Steve became fidgety.  They had been there an entire day and Steve was getting the feeling Hydra had no intention of letting them go until Natasha had produced the promised product.  The lab workers had long since stopped pretending to work on their own formulas and had been not-so-covertly watching them for the past few hours. 

Natasha turned to one of the lab workers and said something in rapid German.  The man pressed something in his ear and spoke into it. Natasha didn’t take her eyes off the man until the vault door began to open.  In walked the man from earlier. He spoke to Natasha, but Steve still couldn’t understand what they were saying. He made a mental note to learn another language once they returned from this mission. 

He didn’t need to understand German to know the man speaking to Natasha was getting irritated.  If Steve didn’t know her as well as he did, he would think she was still calm, but he could see her lips pursed tighter than usual and knew something was wrong.  She wasn’t getting what she wanted, but he didn’t know what that was. 

Suddenly, the man in front of them lashed out and hit Natasha harshly with the back of his hand.  The signet ring on his hand cut her cheek and Natasha brought her hand up, pulling away sharply when her fingers found the open wound.  Steve wanted to beat the man into nothing, but couldn’t seem to move. Any rash action could risk their mission and they were currently in the middle of a Hydra base.  No, he would have to stand there and stare at Natasha’s bleeding face as she continued to argue with the man in German. 

Steve could see the man getting ready to hit her again, but he paused moments before he reached out to hit her again.  Good thing for him, too, because Steve wasn’t sure if he could refrain from punching the guy himself. Even if Natasha hadn’t made a sound at the hit and Steve knew she had been through worse, he didn’t like watching her be hit around just so their mission could be a success. 

“Tell me,  _ Herr Dietrich, _ ”  the man said in English.  Steve was a little surprised to hear him speaking English even if he had been fairly certain the man had known the language anyway.  “Do you know what  _ Fräulein _ Maria is doing here?”  he asked. Steve glanced at Natasha for a sign on whether or not he should actually respond.  She didn’t move even the slightest bit, but she did give him a hard look. 

“No, sir,”  Steve replied, pulling his hands behind his back.  The man raised an eyebrow and glanced at Natasha. 

“So you don’t know of any formula she brought with her?”  the man asked. Steve shook his head. 

“I do not search Miss von Kant’s bags,”  Steve replied. The man seemed to accept this answer and turned back to Natasha.  He said something to her then turned to his men. Even Steve could hear the change in language as he spoke to his guards.  He’d heard Natasha speak it enough to Wanda that he could recognise the words as Russian. 

“They aren’t letting me return to the hotel,”  Natasha said quietly to Steve. She didn’t turn her back on the men, but she did turn so only Steve could hear her.  “I need you to call Tony and ask him for the formulas QKS 13-942 and 13-945. Let Fury know this is bigger than we thought and we need more agents.” 

“What about you?”  Steve whispered back.  Natasha paused, listening to what Director Schmidt said to his men in Russian, clearing thinking Natasha didn’t understand. 

“Director Schmidt wants me to remain here and continue working until you get back,”  she said. She shoved something in his hand and he grasped it tightly. “I’ll be fine; they think they still need me.  Just get the formula from Tony and write it down clearly so I can read it.” 

“Should I bring a tracker?  In case things go south?” Steve asked.  Natasha shook her head. 

“I’ve already got one,”  she told him. Director Schmidt was heading back towards them so she stepped back and crossed her arms.  “Got it?” she asked, sounding more like she was giving a command to an agent lower than her rather than talking to her friend. 

“Yes, ma’am,”  Steve replied. Natasha turned and said something to the man, Director Schmidt, in German and he nodded.  He motioned for Steve to come with him so he did. He followed Director Schmidt out of the lab and right before the vault door shut, he glanced back to see Natasha working on more formulas.  Hopefully whatever that formulas Natasha needed could pass for whatever she had promised Hydra. 

* * *

Natasha was running out of ways to fake a formula.  Of course, she knew multiple formulas for poisonous gas by heart, but she also knew they would be recognised quickly.  After hearing Director Schmidt talk to his men in Russian, the rumour of the Red Room teaming up with Hydra had been confirmed and then some.  Seeing as she’d learned the formulas in the Red Room, she was bound to be found out quickly if she tried any of those. Instead, she contented herself with mixing various chemicals to form non poisonous liquid, hoping it would stall for time. 

Unfortunately, Director Schmidt refused to let her return to her hotel until she had completed her formula for them.  Without the ability to contact Fury and get more help for the mission, she had to think fast. Steve was her only other option, so she suggested he get it for her.  Although hesitant, Director Schmidt agreed. Now she was hoping Steve could copy down the formulas she needed without mistake or something would blow up. 

“ _ Is everything alright, Fräulein?” _  a guard asked.  She smiled tightly at him and returned her focus to the formula she was writing down. 

“ _ Just splendid, _ ”  she answered. 


	6. Chapter 6

Steve wasn’t sure Natasha had realised Director Schmidt’s men would follow him all the way up to the room, so he had to improvise.  He took his time walking up to her room and digging around in his pocket for the key card she had slipped him before he’d left. When he finally did unlock it and it was obvious the men planned to follow him inside, he turned and shook his head at them.  He knew they would understand his English, so he didn’t even try to translate into his poor German. 

“Miss von Kant will not be happy to hear others have been in her room,”  he said. One man raised an eyebrow suspiciously and Steve continued. “She will refuse to work on the formula if she finds out I let others into her room, and she knows when I lie.  I will only be a moment.” 

“Go,”  one grunted.  Steve walked inside and shut the door behind him.  As soon as it had latched, he rushed to the phone and dialled Tony’s number.  He had to confirm international calling then waited impatiently for the man to answer. 

“Stark,”  he said. Steve could hear loud AC/DC playing in the background and rolled his eyes. 

“It’s Steve,”  he told him. Tony just grunted.  “It’s an emergency. Natasha needs the formulas QKS 13-942 and 13-1945.” 

“What?  Why?” Tony said.  He yelled for FRIDAY to kill his music and the noise stopped immediately.  “What exactly is this mission of yours?” 

“Look, Tony, I don’t have time to explain,”  Steve answered. Tony asked if they were okay and Steve replied with, “We’re fine for now, she just needs to formulas.” 

“Clearly not if she needs QKS 13,”  Tony muttered to himself. He told Steve to grab a piece of paper then recited the formulas to him.  The first one itself was longer than Steve had anticipated and he wondered just what these formulas did.  The second one was similar; only a couple changes in elements and measurements. 

“Is that all?”  Steve asked. 

“Yeah,”  Tony answered.  “Tell her if she needs it bigger, double the Phosphorus and half the Krypton in 13-942.” 

“Got it,”  Steve said, making a side note on the paper then ripping it off the hotel notepad.  “Thanks.” 

“No problem,”  Tony replied. He hung up and Steve folded the paper and put it in his pocket.  With the formulas now in hand, he returned to the men outside and nodded. 

“Found it,”  he said. He followed them back into the elevator and through the lobby.  The car ride back to the base was just as long as before. Steve could see lights flickering off the top of the base every now and then, but other than that the area was pitch black. 

When they entered the base, Steve was led back up to Natasha’s lab and shoved inside.  He looked back as the door slammed shut then turned to face Natasha. She was staring at him, the other lab workers watching closely as he walked over and handed her the formulas.  She unfolded the paper and skimmed through the writing before nodding. 

“Good,”  she replied.  She flattened the paper then looked around the room.  She barked out an order to the lab workers and they began bringing her what she needed.  Once she had all the tools, she grabbed the elements, giving some to Steve to carry back to her workstation, then began measuring out and combining the elements together. 

* * *

Natasha had finished the first formula by the time the guards were switched out for others.  It was sitting in a flask, simmering over a burner while she began measuring out the second one.  Steve had watched her read through the paper at least seven times before she ripped it up. Rather than throwing the paper away, she stuffed some pieces in her mouth and chewed on them.  She continued about the second formula as if she wasn’t eating paper and Steve looked around the lab. None of the workers seemed to be watching them, but that didn’t mean there weren’t hidden cameras keeping an eye on her. 

“Eat this,”  she whispered, handing him two shreds of the paper.  He didn’t question it. Shoving the paper in his mouth, he tried not to make it obvious he was chewing and forced himself to swallow it.  The paper was almost completely gone, only two pieces remained, when they were finally caught. 

“ _ Getting hungry, Fräulein von Kant? _ ”  a man asked.  Natasha looked up at the worker who had spoken and nodded. 

“ _ As a matter of fact, yes, _ ”  she answered, stirring what appeared to be a clear liquid.  “ _ Is there any way a woman can get food around here? _ ” 

“ _ By completing her promised formula, _ ”  the man replied smugly.  Natassha smiled as if that was obvious. 

“ _ Of course, _ ”  she said.  She told Steve to continue stirring the formula while she went to get something.  She searched through every drawer she came across, not bothering to leave them neatly organised.  When she found a syringe, she grinned and took it back over to her workstation. 

“ _ What’s that for?  You’re not supposed to use the formula yourself, _ ”  one of the workers said.  Natasha had anticipated this and had set aside a compound to set and turn into a jelly-like consistency. 

“ _ How else am I supposed to insert the heated liquid directly into this? _ ”  she retorted, pointing to the jello block.  She used clamps to remove the heated beaker from the burner and set it on the table.  She wiped the syringe thoroughly with a disinfectant wipe and made sure it was completely empty before inserting it into the beaker full of liquid from the first formula. 

“ _ What’s it do? _ ”  a worker asked, watching Natasha curiously.  She turned her back so they couldn’t see what she was doing and plunged the syringe full of liquid into a vein on her wrist.  She rubbed the prick mark quickly then filled the syringe again. 

“ _ Activates the part that attacks the mind, _ ”  she lied easily.  She motioned for Steve to stand beside her and handed him the jello-like tub.  “Do you trust me?” she breathed, barely audible.

“Yes,”  Steve breathed back.  In one swift motion, Natasha had grabbed his wrist, inserted the syringe into a vein, and knocked over the hot formula.  She yelped in fake surprise and jumped back, cursing in German. 

“ _ Help me clean this up, _ ”  she told the workers.  One brought her a towel and she carefully cleaned up the liquid on the floor.  She scooped the beaker pieces into the trash bin then stood upright. 

“ _ What did you do that for? _ ”  a worker demanded.  Natasha wiped down her workstation and frowned. 

“ _ I didn’t mean to, _ ”  she lied.  She glanced at Steve’s wrist to make sure the prick mark wasn’t obvious and was relieved to find out it wasn’t. 

“ _ I saw you knock it over, _ ”  the worker accused.  “ _ Right after injecting him with the first liquid. _ ” 

“ _ Your eyes deceive you, _ ”  Natasha said nonchalantly.  The worker clearly didn’t believe her, but he didn’t ask anymore.  Instead, he watched her closely as she restarted on the second formula.  The first one remained where it had been first set with the syringe resting beside it. 

When the second formula had been finished once again, this time with a few more elements added to it, she did inject it into the jelly-like substance.  The block turned from a bright pink to a soft orange and Natasha grinned. She carefully cut the block into multiple small cubes with a scalpel and pulled them out of their container. 

“ _ That doesn’t look like something to control people, _ ”  a lab worker said.  Natasha rolled her eyes and walked over to him, making the cube easy to see as she rolled it around in her fingers. 

“ _ It’s not, _ ”  she replied.  “ _ I needed something to eat.  Want to try? _ ”  She shoved the cube in the man’s mouth before he could respond and he choked as he swallowed it.  “ _ Good? _ ”  she asked.  He nodded and she offered it to the others.  One hesitantly stepped forward and he had just swallowed it when the first man started to seize.  The four remaining lab techs raced forward to restrain Natasha, but she quickly knocked them off their feet, promptly shoving the cubes into their mouths and forcing them to swallow.  Steve watched from the side as each man seized then stilled. 

“What is that?”  he asked, staring wide eyed at the men on the floor. 

“Something Tony created with my help,”  Natasha answered. She dumped the rest of the heated formula down the sink and washed out the beaker.  “We have five minutes before someone realises they’re down thanks to the security cameras.” 

“The what?”  Steve asked, looking around the room.  He didn’t see any cameras, but he trusted Natasha’s ability to find them.  “What was the stuff you injected me with?” 

“Don’t worry, it’s safe,”  she promised. She dumped the other liquid down the drain and ate the last two strips of paper.  “Makes us immune to any serum or poison gas we may encounter. Now, let’s find that data room they were talking about earlier.”  They had barely taken one step towards the door when it flew open. Two dozen guards flooded the room, all carrying guns and keeping them up at Natasha and Steve. 

“On the ground!”  a guard demanded. Steve looked at Natasha who had no intention of getting on the ground.  Rather than listening, she threw herself at the nearest soldier and snapped his neck before the first bullet had been fired.  After that, guns went off aimlessly as Steve and Natasha worked to get rid of the guards. The more they killed, though, the more came pouring into the room. 

Natasha was in the process of snapping another guard’s neck when a bullet ripped through her calf and she lost her balance on the man’s shoulders.  She yelled out in pain as she tumbled forward off his shoulders, hitting the ground with a hard  _ bang _ .  She hissed in pain when a guard stepped on her shot leg to prevent her from getting up and stopped fighting when multiple guns were trained on her. 

When Steve heard Natasha hit the floor with a cry of pain, he was distracted from his guard and the man hit him in the back of the head with the butt of his gun.  Steve’s legs were kicked out from under him and he fell to the ground on his knees, raising his hands slowly in surrender. He looked to Natasha and barely held back a gasp when he saw the guns pointed at her head and blood pouring from her calf.  The guard was still standing on her injured leg and even though she wasn’t making a sound, Steve could tell it hurt her. 

One guard said something in German and the guards around Steve reached down and hauled him to his feet.  The men around Natasha did the same, having to hold her up due to her leg. Nevertheless, she limped along beside them with her head high.  They were escorted down many halls and down a few flights of stairs. In one of the stairwells, a guard that had been holding Natasha up let go and she stumbled, banging her head against the rail.  She stood up with a low growl and continued as if nothing had happened. 

When they finally did stop, it was in front of a heavy door with no window.  A guard pulled out multiple keys and undid all four locks. He pulled the door open and the guards shoved Steve in first.  Natasha stumbled in after him, leaving a trail of blood behind her. The door was shut and latched after them and they were left alone. 

“That could have gone better,”  Natasha mumbled. Steve nodded then looked down at her leg. 

“Come on,”  he said, jerking his head towards one of the beds against the wall.  “Let’s get that thing wrapped up.” 


	7. Chapter 7

The only thing they had to tie Natasha’s leg with was her undershirt.  Thanks to the chilly weather, she’d worn a tank top under her Under Armour shirt which they could now use to stop her bleeding.  She’d had to take off both shirts in order to get the tank top off and Steve had looked away until she was dressed again. Once she had the tank top in her hand, she handed it to Steve and let him rip it through one seam so it was easier to wrap around her leg.  Thankfully, the bullet had grazed her leg and not actually embedded itself in her calf, so all Steve had to do was wrap it tightly. 

“Thanks,”  Natasha said as he tied off the tank top.  The wound had slowed its bleeding and wasn’t soaking through her shirt terribly quickly. 

“So was getting shot and captured part of your plan?”  Steve asked, leaning back against the wall. Natasha shifted on the bed beside him and leaned back as well.  She was close enough Steve could feel heat radiating off of her, but they weren’t quite touching. 

“Not the getting shot part,”  Natasha answered. She rubbed her wrist where she’d injected the formula into herself.  “I figured they were onto us when they refused to let me go. That’s what Schmidt was telling his people in Russian before you left.” 

“You should have told me,”  Steve said, feeling a little irritated about being left in the dark.  “I would have told Tony where we were.” 

“He knows,”  Natasha told him.  He looked at her questioningly.  “There’s a tracker embedded in my bra if you must know.”  Steve nodded awkwardly. 

“What happens now?”  he asked. Natasha shrugged. 

“We wait and see how much information we can gain when they come to interrogate us,”  she said. “Clearly this is a job the whole team is needed for, but I want to get as much information as I can.  Once I have it, I’ll activate the help signal and the team will join us within a couple days.” 

“Great,”  Steve said.  He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.  “Wake me when they come to interrogate us.” 

* * *

Steve woke up to the sound of the heavy door being pushed open.  He was blinking the sleep out of his eyes when two guards grabbed Natasha and yanked her off the bed from his side.  She let them throw her into the corner of the room and kick her roughly. Steve jumped to his feet to stop the guards, but he was restrained before he could get too close. 

Schmidt stormed into the room followed by a man Steve hadn’t seen before and stopped in front of Natasha.  When the men stopped hitting her, she looked up and wiped the blood off her cheek from where her earlier cut had reopened.  She looked up to glare at Schmidt, but visibly froze when her eyes landed on the man behind him. 

“So?”  Schmidt asked, crossing his arms as he looked down at Natasha.  “Is it her?” 

“Lose the hair,”  the man said in a thick Russian accent.  One of the guards reached forward and violently yanked Natasha’s blonde wig off.  She grimaced as the clips ripped through her hair, some of them breaking in the process.  The guard threw the wig to another guard and pulled the bald cap off her head, revealing the crown of red braids on her head. 

“ _ Veradohk _ ,”  Natasha said, spitting at the man’s feet.  The man looked down at her in disgust then looked back up at Schmidt. 

“Yes,”  he answered.  “It is her.” He said something to her in Russian and her glare darkened. 

“I will never return to you,”  she replied in English. The man didn’t seem disturbed by her comment.  He stepped back and headed out of the door. Before he left the room completely, he turned back and gave the guards a command in Russian.  The guards picked her off the ground and she stood up, letting the guards lead her out of the cell. 

“Natasha!”  Steve called, pulling free from his own guards.  They quickly pounced on him again and he collapsed to the ground.  “Nat!” he yelled again. She looked over her shoulder at him but before she could respond, she was pulled out of his view.  The guards hit him harshly in the back of the head, causing him to crumple back to the ground and giving them time to run out of the cell.  He ran towards the door, but they shut and locked it before he could push it open. He pounded on it loudly and called for them to bring Natasha back, but he got no response.  After a while, his fists became sore and he decided to stop. They’d bring her back eventually and when they did, he was prepared to kill whoever that new guy was. 

* * *

Natasha could barely feel her body as she was practically carried back to the room Steve was waiting in.  Her head felt heavy and she struggled to keep it upright, letting it hang in front of her as the guards took her through the various halls and stairways.  She knew Hydra was good at torturing their victims and she had experience with Red Room torture techniques, but she had forgotten just how awful it was. 

She heard the door to the cell open and the guards holding her up drug her inside.  She looked up at the sound of someone else approaching and saw Steve hurrying towards her.  The guards dropped her and rushed out of the cell, slamming it shut as she hit the floor. Steve dropped to his knees in front of her and reached for her hands.  They shook as she pushed herself up so she was kneeling on the floor as well and Steve gently reached forward and took both her hands in his. She slumped against him, not having the energy to keep herself upright. 

“What the hell did they do to you, Nat?”  Steve asked, pulling the remaining bobby pins from her hair so they weren’t gouging her head.  The one braid that remained apart of the crown fell down and hit her back. She shifted slightly and Steve looked over her and down at her back.  Her shirt wasn’t ripped, but he knew that didn’t necessarily mean anything. 

Steve carefully pulled back, keeping Natasha upright as he scanned her body for visible injuries.  Other than the tank top that was still wrapped around her calf, there didn’t appear to be any new wounds.  He frowned and moved slowly as he lifted her into his arms. She groaned as he jostled her and he apologised softly.  He carried her over to one of the beds and set her down so she could lean against the corner of the wall. 

“What happened?”  he asked again, kneeling in front of her on the floor. 

“Just…”  she breathed in sharply and grimaced, alerting Steve to the probability of broken ribs.  “It’s normal,” she told him, closing her eyes as her head pounded. 

“What do you mean ‘normal’?  None of this is normal,” he reminded her.  She shook her head then brought a hand up to hold it as the pounding in her head got worse. 

“Red Room normal,”  she muttered. Steve raised his eyebrows at her then glanced back at the door to their cell.  “Shows us who’s in charge. It’s normal; not that bad anymore, actually,” she told him, rubbing her forehead.  Steve moved her hand off her forehead and pulled her forward so he could check her head for any wounds. She did have a large bump on the side of her head, but it wasn’t bleeding.  He still wouldn’t be surprised to find out she had a concussion. 

“Who was the man with Schmidt?”  Steve asked carefully. Just as when she’d first seen the man, she stiffened. 

“Can I lie?”  she asked, looking at him blankly.  Steve could tell she was in pain just by looking at her face.  He shook his head and she sighed. “Ivan Petrovich. He brought me to the Red Room and I was his favourite.  He wasn’t a very good person.” 

“I got that when he returned you beaten up,”  Steve replied. He motioned to her shirt and she didn’t object, so he lifted it up to check her abdomen for signs of broken ribs.  He couldn’t see anything protruding from her rib cage and bruises hadn’t started to form yet, but he had no doubt that when they did, they would be awful. 

“I heal fast,”  Natasha said, watching as he gingerly fingered her ribs, just making sure she really hadn’t broken any.  She sucked in a breathed when he touched a lower part of her ribs and looked down. Steve tried not to press hard as he felt around for the broken part and found it as she hissed again. 

“That doesn’t mean anything,”  he told her. He pulled her shirt back down at looked at her.  “It wasn’t broken off, just cracked. How is that your only injury?” 

“I’s not,”  she said, slurring slightly.  She pulled herself out of the corner and shifted on the bed so her back was to Steve.  She tried reaching back to pull her shirt up, but her ribs protested so she stopped. Steve got the message, though, and lifted up her shirt.  Underneath were long, red lashes that looked about ready to break and bleed through her shirt, but they didn’t. Without thinking, he reached forward and barely touched one.  Natasha gasped and jerked out of his grasp. 

“Is this a whip?”  Steve asked, looking at the marks in horror.  “Who uses a whip on a person?” 

“Red Room,”  Natasha replied.  Steve carefully pulled her shirt back down and she moved so she could look at him again.  “They prefer older methods of punishment and persuasion.” 

“Nat,”  Steve said softly.  She didn’t meet his gaze and before he could ask her more, the door was pulled open.  Natasha didn’t look up, but Steve turned to see who had entered. The door was shutting by the time he’d turned to check and all that was left was a small first aid kit.  He glanced at Natasha then got up and walked to it. On top of the box was a note written in English. 

_Don’t waste it or you won’t get more._


	8. Chapter 8

Steve took the top off the box and found cream for the lashes on Natasha’s back and bandages.  He returned to Natasha and showed her the box. She grabbed the cream and read the back. It was in Russian so Steve didn’t know what it said, but clearly she recognised it.  She handed it back to him with a frown. 

“Don’t even open that,”  she told him. She kicked the box away and leaned against the wall carefully. 

“What?  Why not?”  he asked. Natasha shook her head. 

“Makes it worse,”  she answered. She nodded at the box and said,  “It aggravates the wounds and makes them heal slower.  I think they expected you to just apply it without question.” 

“They didn’t think you’d read it?”  he replied. 

“Guess they expected me to be passed out by now,”  she told him. “It’s been a while since I’ve been around them, but clearly they forgot just how well they replicated your serum.”  Steve blinked in shock. 

“They what?”  he asked. Natasha nodded.  “How did they manage that?” 

“Not sure,”  she said, shrugging as best she could.  “But they did and it was successful, so here I am!”  She waved her hands halfheartedly then dropped them back down beside her. 

“So you have the super soldier serum too?”  he asked. Natasha nodded once. “How come I didn’t know earlier?” 

“SHIELD doesn’t know, so it was never dropped on the internet,”  she told him. “I guess I never thought it was important. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine by the time they return and they know it.” 

“Not sure I like that,”  Steve muttered. 

“Just wait until they actually begin questioning us,”  Natasha said, staring at the wall across from her. If Steve was upset by what they’d done to her before, he probably wouldn’t be too thrilled to discover old Soviet questioning methods. 

* * *

Just as Natasha said, by the time the Hydra men returned, she had already begun to heal.  The cut on her cheek was gone, leaving behind just a thin white line to show it hadn’t completely healed yet.  Her abdomen was considerably less sore, but her back was still in pretty bad shape. The lashes were still bright red and painful, but they weren’t getting infected and she could lean against the wall without wanting to die of pain. 

As soon as the door was pulled open, Steve had moved from beside her to in front of her.  Rather than call him back and draw the men’s attention to his movement, she reached for his hand.  He gripped it tighter as the dozens of men approached and she gently rubbed the back of his palm in hoppes of calmly him. 

“How are you feeling, Miss Romanovna?”  Schmidt asked, smiling at her from where he stood just a metre from the edge of the bed. 

“Go to hell,”  Steve snapped. Natasha squeezed his hand tightly and he backed down just a bit.  Schmidt looked amused at Steve’s outburst, though, and Natasha knew that could only breed bad things. 

“You really do look for fights wherever you go, don’t you, Captain America?”  Schmidt asked. Steve didn’t reply. Whether he was surprised they had figured out who he was or had decided back talking wasn’t in his best interest, Natasha wasn’t sure.  However, she was glad he’d decided to stay quiet for the moment being. 

Schmidt turned to a guard and motioned towards the two silently.  The group of men stepped forward and Steve jumped to his feet. He punched the first man in the face so hard he fell to the ground unconscious.  Schmidt glared at the man on the ground even if he couldn’t see him then looked back up at Steve. 

“Well, we were going to do this nicely, but clearly you don’t want that,”  he said. He barked out an order in German. Natasha pushed herself upright as the guards closed in on them and the first one who managed to touch her received and hard punch to the face.  He yelled out in pain as his nose cracked and begun to bleed. His yelp of pain didn’t stop the others from dutifully marching forward and trying to grab the two. 

Steve managed to keep some of the guards away from them, hitting the ones closest to him.  Eventually, though, one struck him with the back of his rifle and Steve stumbled as pain shot through the back of his head and down his neck.  That allowed more guards to reach forward and restrain him, pulling him away from Natasha and across the room. 

He fought against them but everytime he began to gain the upperhand, a guard would hit him on the back of the head and Steve would be distracted by the pain long enough for them to drag him further away.  He was hit a total of three times before his wrists were clamped to the wall by thick iron holds and the guards hurried back to restrain Natasha. 

Seeing as Natasha was still in pain and didn’t have full use of her leg, it took hardly more than ten guards to pull her from the bed and chain her to the wall adjacent to the one Steve was chained to.  She didn’t even try to fight the restraints like Steve had when he watched them chain her down. She just sat against the wall and looked up at Schmidt with a glare. 

“Angry isn’t a good look on you, my dear,”  Schmidt said. He patted Natasha’s cheek patronizingly and she bit his fingers.  He screamed so loud only Natasha heard the crack of his fingers as she bit down. She didn’t release his hand until after one of the guards had stomped on her injured leg.  She gasped in pain and Schmidt pulled his hand out of her mouth angrily. He kicked her abdomen harshly before spinning around and storming out of the room, his guards following close behind. 


	9. Chapter 9

Steve was beginning to really hate Fury.  He understood how his information might not be entirely accurate now that he didn’t run a top secret government agency, but how was it possible his information had been so terribly wrong?  Steve knew Fury would never intentionally lead them into a death trap, but he would definitely have a word with the man about who his sources were when they got out of this mess. 

“You didn’t happen to tell Tony where we were when you called him, did you?”  Natasha asked. Steve shook his head. 

“You said we were fine so I didn’t,”  he replied. Natasha rolled her eyes. 

“Next time we’re obviously not fine and I tell you to do something, just ignore what I say,”  she told him. Steve raised an eyebrow. 

“Alright,”  he agreed. “Why the sudden need to tell Tony rather than use your tracker?” 

“It’s jammed,”  Natasha said. She fiddled with something under her shirt and Steve glanced away.  “I activated it as soon as you left for the hotel, but nothing’s come through. Hydra must have a signal jammer somewhere, so until we can get rid of it and contact the team, we’re on our own.” 

“Nat,”  Steve groaned.  Clearly this mission wasn’t going as well as it could have. 

“I didn’t know, alright?”  she snapped. Steve sent her an irritated look and she rolled her eyes.  “Next time we go into a secret base completely unprepared and without any way to contact the team, I’ll let you know earlier.” 

“Maybe next time you just tell me to call for help,”  Steve said. 

“Fine,”  she hissed.  “Next time, you can call for help and I’ll just blow the place up.  Maybe things will go better.” 

“I’m sure they will,”  Steve replied. 

They fell into silence after that.  Natasha fixed the makeshift bandage around her leg then dozed off.  She never fell asleep, but would catch herself snapping awake when she was moments away from it.  Her lack of sleep didn’t surprise her, though. She could never sleep well on missions and being in captivity usually made it harder than usual to sleep. 

Steve found he couldn’t have dozed off even if he wanted to.  He was wide awake as he waited for Schmidt to return. He watched Natasha as she tried to sleep and tried finding a way to unlock the cuffs around his wrists.  He wasn’t successful, though, and slumped against the wall in defeat. A few minutes after admitting his defeat, the door to their cell opened and three men walked in.  Schmidt wasn’t with them and Steve had the oddest feeling that the box one of the men was carrying wasn’t full of files. 

“What is America’s Golden Boy doing with Russia Best Assassin, hm?”  the first man asked. He stood equally far from the two as he looked down at them.  “You were forced into it, yes? Or did she brainwash you?” 

Steve didn’t answer.  The only response he gave the man was a hard stare.  The man barely even blinked in the direction of the second man and suddenly a knife had cut through Steve’s cheek.  He groaned at the pain and turned his head back around to look at the first man. He grabbed Steve’s face, not caring as his thumb pressed against the fresh cut and Steve held back a moan of pain. 

“Let me make one thing clear here,”  the man said softly. “My name is Rudolph Mitcheski and you will answer every question I ask or Emile here will slowly make you wish you had never been born.  Same goes for you, Miss Romanovna. If I don’t get my answer, Lev will do the same to you. Understand?” 

“Yes, sir,”  Steve said mockingly.  Mitcheski’s eyes narrowed but he stepped back and released Steve’s face. 

“Now, how did America’s Golden Boy become partners with Russia’s Greatest Assassin?”  he repeated. 

“Ever heard of the Avengers?”  Steve asked. Emile moved to hit Steve, but Mitcheski held him back.  “I guess you could say she introduced me to saving the world.” 

Mitcheski barked.  He turned to Natasha who hadn’t moved since Lev had stood beside her.  Mitcheski grinned as he looked down at her and asked, “Saving the world now, Romanovna?  I never pegged you for the compassionate type.” 

“I never pegged you for someone’s goon,”  Natasha replied. That earned her a knife to the arm and she sucked in a sharp breath.  The cut on her upper arm ripped through her shirt and blood began to trickle down her arm. 

“You might want to save the smart comments,”  Mitcheski warned. Natasha did manage to keep her mouth shut and Mitcheski continued.  “What are you doing here? How did you discover Hydra and Red Room’s team-up?” 

“Well, it was really more of a hypothesis so thanks for confirming it,”  Natasha said. Lev kicked her abdomen a couple times and she closed her eyes tightly as her back slammed into the wall each time. 

“What are you doing here, Mr. Rogers?”  Mitcheski asked, turning just enough so that he could face Steve and watch as Lev continued to kick Natasha. 

“Stop hurting her,”  Steve replied. Mitcheski didn’t say anything and Lev continued.  “I won’t answer until you call off your man.” 

“We both know that isn’t true,”  Mitcheski said. He faced Steve full on and crossed his arms.  “I’ll call off my man when you give me an answer. What are you two doing here?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?”  Steve snapped. He glanced behind Mitcheski to see a knife drawn seconds before it’s slammed into her thigh.  No matter how hard she grit her teeth to prevent a moan of pain, she couldn’t hold back a loud groan when the knife was twisted.  Steve swallowed hard, refusing to give Mitcheski what he wanted. 

At least, that was his plan until Natasha screamed.  The knife in her thigh had been removed and rather than just stabbing her elsewhere, Lev had found something and poured it into the open wound.  Her scream echoed through the cell but Mitcheski didn’t even flinch at the sound. Steve couldn’t seem to look away from her as she writhed on the ground even if he knew she wouldn’t want him to see her in pain. 

Natasha’s screams began to die down and Lev moved to pour more of the liquid on her other wound, but Steve cut in before he could. 

“We were just here to see how far the combined operation had gotten,”  Steve said. Natasha forced her head up and glared so fiercely at Steve he began to think she was upset he’d kept her from being hurt more. 

“I think there’s more to it than that,”  Mitcheski said. Steve shook his head, insisting there wasn’t.  “Where did you get your information? There’s no way you just stumbled upon this news.” 

“It was just a hint,”  Steve lied easily. “A guy met us while on another mission and gave us the tip.  We thought it was just a small thing, not nearly as big as it is.” 

Mitcheski sighed and uncrossed his arms.  He waved Lev away from Natasha then turned to Emile. 

“Emile, show Steve Rogers what we do to liars,”  Mitcheski instructed. He didn’t even wait to see how Emile thought liars should be treated.  Mitcheski turned, beckoning for Lev to follow him out, and Emile was left with no more instructions than those. 


	10. Chapter 10

Natasha was starving, which was saying something.  She was used to not eating much on missions in case of captivity.  If she wasn’t starving, she wasn’t delirious or willing to compromise for food even if she never would do that.  Nevertheless, the fact that she was hungry and was beyond stomach growling showed just how long they’d been trapped in their cell.  They’d even been given a little food every now and then, so Natasha knew they had been there for quite a while. Exactly how long, she wasn’t sure.  However, they’d been given food seven different times, so they must have been trapped for at least a week. 

“Natasha?”  Steve moaned.  Natasha looked up from where she’d been adjusting a bandage to see Steve asleep.  She frowned and went back to moving the tank top she’d originally had tied around a bullet wound to the largest gash on her leg.  By now, the bullet wound was such that it didn’t need to be wrapped. It still hurt when something applied pressure to it, but it felt more like major bruising compared to the nasty cut and tear in her thigh. 

Mitcheski had come in four other times to ask them questions, but hadn’t gotten anywhere.  Steve and Natasha had both refused to mention Fury. Unfortunately, Mitcheski had gotten Steve to tell him they didn’t have backup coming in and Natasha had told him what the formula she’d given the guards in the lab was supposed to do.  In her defence, Steve had been screaming bloody murder and about to pass out. She figured the least she could do was tell them something they already knew even if they weren’t aware they knew it. 

“Tasha?”  Steve groaned, sounding much more concerned than the first time.  Natasha looked back up at him to see his face scrunched up in worry.  He moaned again then tensed. 

“Steve?”  Natasha asked, rattling the cuffs around her wrists in hopes the noise would wake him up.  “Steve, wake up,” she said. He breathed in sharply and Natasha tensed, waiting for his scream but it never came. 

“Natasha?”  he whimpered.  Natasha forced herself to move as close to him as her chains would allow, swallowing down a hiss of pain as her various wounds throbbed. 

“Steve, I’m right here,”  she told him. She violently lifted an arm and let the chain smash into the wall.  Steve jumped awake, eyes darting around the room until they landed on Natasha. 

“Nat,”  he breathed, slumping against the wall. 

“Hey,”  she said, giving him a small smile.  He closed his eyes and put his head back against the wall.  “You have a good nap?” she asked, knowing the answer would be ‘no’ based on his nightmare. 

“I’ve had better,”  he replied. He lifted his head up from the wall and looked at her.  “What are we gonna do, Nat? We’ve been trapped her for who knows how long and no one is coming to get us anytime soon.” 

“Well, eventually the team will get suspicious, right?”  Natasha replied. Steve gave her a doubtful look. They’re mission was possibly long term, so the team wouldn’t be suspicious if they were gone for months.  It could be a year or more before the team started to look for them. 

“Nat, I don’t…”  Steve trailed off and looked down at his lap.  “I don’t think this is gonna end well.” 

“Oh bullshit,”  Natasha snapped.  She rolled her eyes and prodded at her leg.  “We’re getting out of here.” 

“How?”  Steve demanded.  “How are we getting out of here when you can’t walk with that leg, we’re both starving, and I’m so banged up even my ears are purple and black?” 

“Steve, I have two plans, maybe three if we can get a weapon,”  Natasha told him. “I just, they’re not foolproof and the chances of us dying on our way out is pretty high.” 

Steve paused, obviously not expecting her to have thought up plans.  She would have been offended if they weren’t so obviously torture victims.  The only reason they weren’t hurt worse was because it had been at least three meal cycles since Mitcheski had come in to bother them and they’d both been able to heal just a bit. 

“You have plans?”  Steve asked slowly.  Natasha was hesitant to call them that, but nodded. 

“They’re not completed and really only involve us getting out of the compound,”  she answered. “However, they’re a little more complicated than just picking a lock and getting out.” 

“Well,”  Steve said, shrugging as best he could with his dislocated shoulder.  “That’s better than dying here like cowards. What do you have?” 


	11. Chapter 11

Steve wasn’t sure what he expected when Natasha said she had partial plans, but he’d been hoping they were more thought out than she currently had them.  Sure, they were better than the plans he had considering he didn’t have even the slightest idea other than get out of there, but at least staying in their cell guaranteed there wouldn’t be a gunfight. 

“Are you sure you can do this?”  Steve asked, watching as Natasha uncuffed his wrists.  Apparently she’d known how to break out of the chains within ten minutes of being put in them (“No use escaping chains just to stay in the same place”). 

“Of course,”  she answered easily.  She grunted as she strained to reach his second cuff from where she sat on the floor.  “I’m the one that came up with the plan, remember?” 

“No, I mean the running part,”  Steve said. He second hand was released and he rubbed his wrist.  Natasha sat back so she wasn’t straining her thigh and breathed deeply. 

“You’ve got my back, right?”  she asked. Steve nodded. 

“Always,”  he promised.  She gave him a small smile and nodded. 

“I’ll be fine then,”  she said. Rather than return to her own wall, she turned herself so she was sitting beside Steve.  She was closer than necessary, but Steve didn’t mind and, if he was truly honest, didn’t want her to move. 

* * *

At the sound of their cell door being unlocked, Steve clambered to his feet.  His body ached as the bruises screamed for him to stop, but he ignored it. He looped an arm under Natasha’s shoulders and hauled her to her feet.  She moaned as she had to put pressure on her injured leg, but brushed him off when he voiced concern. 

“Just focus on the plan,”  she told him. He nodded and rolled his shoulder back, grimacing slightly.  Natasha had reset his dislocated shoulder a few hours earlier, but it was still pretty sore. 

Their cell door opened and a guard walked in carrying one tray as always.  His eyes widened at the sight of Steve standing in front of him, but Natasha had snapped his neck before he could take in a breath to yell.  Having been standing by the door hinges and in the guard’s blindspot, she had barely needed to step forward in order to complete her job. 

“Get changed,”  she hissed at Steve.  He scrambled to change into the guard’s uniform, forcing himself to ignore the pain coursing through his body.  One glance at Natasha’s thigh and shoulder reminded him she was probably in much worse pain and complaining about it a lot less.  He managed to change without another moan. 

“ _ Georg _ ?”  a man called from outside the cell.  Both Natasha and Steve glanced at the dead, naked man in their cell.  He didn’t look much like Steve at all. He was broad shouldered and tall, but he had dark hair and tan skin.  Hopefully the man outside didn’t know  _ Georg  _ very well. 

“ _ Ich komme _ ,”  Natasha hissed at him.  Steve repeated the words louder then carefully grabbed Natasha’s uninjured arm. 

“I’m sorry,”  he whispered before hauling her out of the cell.  Steve pushed past the man outside the cell, keeping his head down and covered with the guards’ hat.  The man snapped out in German and Steve froze. Natasha whispered the correct response and Steve did his best to get each word correct before hurrying down the hall again.  He wasn’t called back, so he continued to practically drag Natasha down the hall. 

When they came to a stairwell, Steve stopped and frowned.  He knew walking up it would definitely hurt Natasha, but they couldn’t just stop.  He was about to pick her up when another guard appeared above him. Steeling himself and mentally apologising to Natasha, he forced her up the stairs. 

“Where are you going, comrade?”  the guard above him asked. 

“She’s wanted by Schmidt,”  Steve lied, changing his voice awkwardly.  “Not questions asked.” 

“Good luck,”  the man sneered at Natasha, spitting a word at her that Steve didn’t understand.  Natasha didn’t react. The man just chuckled and kicked one of her legs out from under her.  She dropped to her knees, yelling out in pain at the pines on the stairs dug into her knees and the scab on her thigh broke open. 

Steve resisted the urge to kill the man then and there and helped Natasha back to her feet.  He looked down to see the tank top around her injury slowly getting damp again. 

“I’m fine,”  she whispered.  He could hear the pain in her voice, but she didn’t give him time to object.  “Keep going,” she insisted. 

Steve knew her thigh must be hurting her even more now that it was slowly bleeding again, so he made sure to support more of her weight.  She didn’t object and he knew she was aware of what he was doing, so he continued to hold her up. 

They had made it up two flights of stairs before an alarm went off.  An announcement came overhead that Steve couldn’t understand. However, Natasha tensed and he knew they had been discovered. 

“They know,”  she said. Steve didn’t even ask before scooping her up and running up the stairs.  He raced up the stairs and made it to the top floor before they encountered any guards. 

“Captain Rogers!”  a guard yelled, raising his gun at the two.  The five other guards with him did the same and Steve set Natasha back on her feet.  “Stand down and we will not shoot,” the guard said. 

“Yeah, I know how that goes,”  Steve said. He punched the first guard in the face, ripping the gun from his hand and tossing it to Natasha.  He kicked one guard as he attacked the first, making him stumble back into another. Steve was snapping another guard’s neck when three gunshots went off.  He looked up, worried someone had shot at Natasha, but instead saw two guards drop to the ground. Natasha was on the floor, not bleeding but groaning at the sudden drop.  She shot the last guard without looking at him and Steve helped her off the floor. 

“Look, now we have a gun to bring to the gun fight,”  Natasha said, wrapping her arm around Steve’s shoulders.  He didn’t pick her up, but he practically carried her as her feet barely touched the ground. 

“Great,”  Steve muttered, kicking open a door.  He pulled it shut immediately and bullets imbedded themselves in the door.  “How accurate can you shoot without seeing the target?” 

“How well can Sam fly his wings?”  Natasha retorted. Steve rolled his eyes and pushed open the door just enough for her to get the gun around.  She poked her head around the corner first then pulled it back and fired seven times. By the time she finished, only two more guns were going off. 

“Good job,”  Steve said. She rolled her eyes and told Steve to open the door all the way.  He did so slowly and by the time they could both slip through it, Natasha had killed the last two guards and snatched another two guns from some of the dead ones. 

“There’s an exit to the right,”  she told Steve, hurriedly limping down the hall and towards the door.  They barely made it around the corner before more guards arrived and began firing at them.  Natasha peered around the corner, shooting some down then retreating. Steve kicked open the door and stole a gun from her to shoot at the men outside while Natasha finished off the guards in the hall. 

“Now where?”  Steve asked, dumping his rifle for a handgun one of the dead guards had.  Natasha did the same then pointed to the forest. 

“In there,”  she said. Steve looped his arm under hers again and ran towards the forest.  She didn’t make a sound even when Steve stumbled over a log and almost dropped her. 

“What’s your plan now?”  Steve asked, continuing into the forest without pause.  Natasha’s arm slipped from his shoulders and he barely turned around in time to keep her from falling to the ground completely.  He helped her sit on a log briefly and knelt down in front of her. 

“They’re gonna come look for us in here,”  Natasha told him, pressing on her thigh and groaning.  Her hands came away bloody and she squeezed her eyes shut to keep from crying out in pain. 

“Nat,”  Steve said, hands hovering over her thigh and knowing he couldn’t really do anything. 

“We have to keep moving,”  she told him. “The sooner we get back to civilization, the sooner we can call for help.” 

“We can’t outrun them,”  Steve replied. He could already make out the flashes of light scanning the forest. 

“We have to try,”  Natasha said. Steve sighed and picked her up without asking.  He ran through the trees, using his body to keep the branches from hitting Natasha.  He knew carrying Natasha was slowing him down, but he was absolutely  _ not _ going to just leave her behind and he was already much faster than the average human. 

He didn’t stop running through the forest until it broke up.  He came crashing through the brush and onto a road. Blinking to adjust his eyes to the overhead sun, he paused just long enough to shift Natasha in his arms and catch his breath. 

“Take a break,”  Natasha told him.  Steve shook his head, walking down the road while he took a break from running. 

“No,”  he said.  “I’m okay.” 

“You’ve been running for an hour easily,”  Natasha said. Steve just shook his head again and continued at a brisk walk.  “At least let me walk.” 

“Natasha, you’re light enough I could carry you for an entire day without getting tired,”  he said immediately. He glanced down at her and could tell she felt bad. “You’re injured and it’s faster if I just carry you, so let me.” 

“You’re injured too,”  she pointed out. Steve rolled his eyes. 

“Out of the two of us, who here has the worst injuries?”  he asked. Natasha frowned, clearly not appreciating his use of bringing up evidence against her.  “If you really feel bad about it, you can take me out for coffee once we’re back in New York.” 

“Are you really asking me out right now?”  she asked, wide eyed and slack jawed. Steve just grinned.  “Steve Rogers, we are on the run from a Hydra-Red Room team up and you’re asking me on a date?” 

“I feel like it wouldn’t feel right in any other situation,”  he told her. She just rolled her eyes and adjusted her grip on his neck.  “So is that a yes?” he asked, sounding a little unsure. Natasha just laughed (which almost made him cry tears of joy it was so wonderful to hear compared to the screams of pain he’d been hearing for who knows how long). 

“Yes,”  she said after her laughter died down. 


	12. Chapter 12

Four large, black SUVs passed them on the road before they spotted a house.  Each time they heard a car coming, no matter what direction it was coming from, they would duck into the forest nearby.  Cars didn’t pass by often, maybe once every hour or so according to the sun and what Natasha said, but it was still a long walk to the first house. 

“Let’s see if they can help us,”  Natasha said, tapping Steve’s shoulder as they neared the house. 

“What?  What if they’re Hydra?”  he asked. Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Steve, there are pink tricycles and a plastic basketball hoop that comes to my middle,”  she told him. He looked at the house, but that didn’t make him any more sure about approaching the place.  “When Hydra likes kids and starts buying minivans, we can be concerned.” 

“Fine,”  he agreed, turning down the driveway to the lone house.  “If we die, though, that’s on you.” 

“Yeah, yeah,”  she said, waving her free hand nonchalantly. 

When they arrived at the front door of the house, Steve carefully set Natasha down and she rang the doorbell.  They could hear confused German from inside and a few moments later, a middle aged woman wearing an apron came to the door. 

“ _ Hello _ ,”  she said.  “ _ How can I help you? _ ” 

“ _ Where is the nearest town? _ ”  Natasha asked.  The woman looked her up and down, freezing at the sight of her leg.  “ _ Please, ma’am, we just need to get to the nearest town. _ ” 

“ _ Two kilometres that way, _ ”  the woman said, pointing further down the road.  Natasha nodded. 

“ _ Thank you, _ ”  she replied.  She turned around and limped down the stairs.  The woman shut and locked her door before Steve and Natasha had even made it down the front steps.  Once they were back on the road, Steve moved to pick Natasha up again, but she moved away. 

“Natasha, it’s not that much further,”  he said. 

“Exactly,”  she replied, limping along beside him slowly.  “It’s only two kilometres more so I can walk fine.” 

If Steve wanted to object, he didn’t.  Natasha sent him a glare and he just sighed before resigning himself to walking beside her.  He stuffed his hands in his pockets as they moved slowly down the road, not getting anywhere very quickly. 

“Since it would be faster,”  Natasha said suddenly, slowing down until she came to a stop.  “I’ll let you carry me. But only because it’s faster, not because of anything else.” 

“Of course,”  Steve agreed. He gently picked her up and resumed his brisk walk down the road.  

They made it to the town within half an hour and were able to find a taxi willing to drive them all the way back to Berlin.  The driver was chatty for the three and a half hour drive, not stopping his chatter for more than a few minutes at a time. It didn’t take him long to figure out Steve didn’t speak German and had switched to broken English within the first fifteen minutes.  After that, Natasha was able to tune out the conversation in hopes of catching some sleep. 

Steve didn’t mind that the driver kept talking or that Natasha ended up with her head against his arm as she dozed off.  The constant talk of the friendly German man reminded him that they weren’t with Hydra anymore and the feeling of having Natasha close to him was calming.  He was more than willing to be in the taxi for the long drive with the current conditions, so he felt bad when he had to say goodbye to their driver. 

“If you wait here, I’ll go get a credit card to pay you with,”  Steve said, peering into the taxi from where he stood outside. 

“Alright,”  the man replied happily.  “I’ll stay right here. Take your time.” 

Steve nodded and turned back to Natasha.  Once she had woken up from her nap in the taxi, they had managed to remove the bandage from her back to around her thigh so people wouldn’t panic at the sight of blood.  It still looked really bad: a bandage wrapping most of her right thigh, but it was better than the bloody tank top she’d had on it earlier. 

“I’ll run back down to pay for the taxi,”  Steve said, following Natasha into the elevator of the hotel.  “You get ahold of Tony and get us a quinjet.” 

“Aye, aye, Captain,”  she said. They both walked into her room and Natasha handed Steve Tony’s credit card.  He hurried back down to the taxi driver, thanking him again after paying then waving goodbye.  When he returned to Natasha’s room, he heard the shower running and spotted her cell phone on her bed. 

Steve moved his things from his room down the hall to her room, digging around in his bags for a first aid kit after bringing everything into her room.  Unfortunately, he hadn’t packed one so he went down to the reception desk and asked for one. The lady at the desk didn’t even blink as she handed him a fresh kit.  She either ignored or didn’t hear his thanks as she continued on with her phone call while he hurried back to Natasha’s suite. 

“Steve?”  he heard her ask as soon as he walked in. 

“Yeah, it’s me,”  he replied, shutting the door behind him.  He turned the corner to see her sitting on her bed without any pants on.  He felt his face heat up as he approached her with the first aid kit. 

“Oh please,”  she scoffed. “I can’t stitch it up with pants on.  Don’t worry, I am wearing underwear.” 

“That doesn’t necessarily make it better,”  he replied. She rolled her eyes and took the first aid kit from him.  “I’m going to take a shower,” he told her. 

“Alright,”  she replied, digging around for a needle and thread.  After finding it, she carefully stitched up the torn tissue and skin of her leg.  It bled more than she anticipated, allowing for some colourful Russian as she tried to clean off the bed.  Her attempts remained unsuccessful, though, so she returned to her wound and gave up on cleaning the covers. 

“How’s it coming?”  Steve asked, walking out of the bathroom in nothing more than a towel. 

“And you thought my lack of pants was bad,”  Natasha retorted. Steve just chuckled and grabbed some clothes before returning to the bathroom to change.  By the time he walked out again, Natasha had wrapped her thigh and had pulled on some running shorts to sleep in. 

“Tony sent us a jet, right?”  Steve asked, sitting beside her on the bed.  She nodded. 

“It will be here in about eight hours,”  she told him. Steve nodded and the room went silent for a long time. 

When Natasha finally looked at the clock, it was nearing 10:30PM and it was dark outside.  She turned to look at Steve who was enraptured by the carpeting. 

“Are you going back to your own room?”  she asked. Steve blinked in surprise then looked up at her. 

“No,”  he replied.  She nodded and stood up from the bed.  When he didn’t copy her, she swatted him up and off so she could pull back the covers. 

“I’m exhausted and I doubt Fury is going to let us sleep on the ride back before we answer all his questions,”  she said. Steve agreed and turned off the lights as she carefully slid under the covers. She turned on a lamp so he could find his way back to the bed and didn’t turn it off until he was situated underneath the blankets and comfortable. 

“Goodnight, Nat,”  he muttered, pulling her closer to him as soon as the light had been turned off.  Natasha reached across his body and grabbed his hand with her own, both of them lying on their backs to keep from aggravating any injuries. 

“Goodnight, Steve,”  she whispered back. 


	13. Chapter 13

As predicted, Fury had a dozen questions about the mission.  He was waiting in hologram form the moment they walked on the quinjet.  However, he hesitated when he saw Natasha limping and a bandage wrapped around her thigh, quite obvious with the running shorts she hadn’t changed out of (skinny jeans weren’t even considered).  Steve looked better, but he was still covered in bruises and looked about ready to drop and a moments’ notice. 

“What on earth happened?”  was the first thing he asked. 

“False intel,”  Natasha muttered, dropping her bags and locking up the quinjet. 

“It was some pretty shitty intel is what it was,”  Steve snapped, sitting down in one of the nearby seats.  “Do you have any idea how poorly this mission went?” 

“Based on who I’m looking at and the injuries I can see, I’ll go with pretty bad,”  Fury said. Natasha got the jet in the air then activated autopilot back to the Compound.  Once she was done, she sat down beside Steve and looked at Fury’s hologram. 

“Hydra and the Red Room are so much bigger than we thought,”  Steve told him. “We were sniffed out within hours and then held captive and tortured for almost the entire time.  How long has it been since we left? A week? Two weeks?” 

“Two weeks,”  Fury told him.  “Now what was this about being captive and tortured?” 

“Yeah, they pretty much figured out who we were right away and tortured us for information,”  Natasha said, motioning towards her thigh. 

“Not only that, but they have an entire fortress full of staff and are more prepared for us than we were for them,”  Steve said, finally able to release the anger he’d felt for Fury since the first day in that cell. “This mission needed the whole team.” 

“And now we know that,”  Fury said calmly. Steve looked about ready to explode.  Before he could, Natasha had grabbed his hand and was talking. 

“We need a break,”  she said. “You’re sending the team in to the location I give you while we have a break.” 

“Romanoff, you know that’s not how SHIELD operates,”  Fury told her. “Your mission isn’t done yet.” 

“And SHIELD doesn’t exist anymore,”  Steve snapped. Fury raised an eyebrow at him but Steve didn’t back down.  “You’re sending in the team and we’re taking a break.” 

“Rogers,”  Fury said. Before he could continue, Steve ended the hologram and slouched. 

“We have eight hours before we land?”  he asked. Natasha nodded. He laid down on the seats, carefully avoiding resting his head on Natasha’s injured leg.  “I’m going to try and sleep.” 

“Alright,”  she replied, running her hand through his hair.  He closed his eyes and listened to the hum of the quinjet and Natasha’s quiet breathing.  For not getting much sleep in two weeks, he struggled to fall asleep. Eventually, though, he managed to drift off with Natasha’s hand running through his hair and the steady hum of the engine. 

* * *

Steve woke up to Natasha patting his cheek.  He groaned and swatted her hand away. His head hit the seat as she stood up and he frowned as he opened his eyes.  They had obviously landed as the quinjet door was down and the medical team was rushing inside. He spotted Natasha sitting on a stretcher, not looking very happy at being rolled off the quinjet while he stayed behind. 

“Captain Rogers?”  a nurse asked, looking down at him.  “If you’ll please come with me so we can look at your injuries, we can have some people take your things back to your rooms for you.” 

“Alright,”  Steve agreed, sitting up slowly.  His body protested, but he stood up anyway and followed the nurse down to the medical bay.  

A doctor came in and examined him thoroughly, making sure any and all of Steve’s wounds were taken care of.  Luckily for him, most of his injuries were just bruises. The few cuts he had were already healing fine and only one needed bandaging.  He was sent away with a bottle of pain killers just in case and told to wait in the waiting room for Natasha. 

“FRIDAY?”  Steve asked, fiddling with the bottle of painkillers as he waited.  “Where’s the rest of the team?” 

“The rest of the Avengers were sent out to the facility Miss Romanoff said held the Hydra and Red Room operatives,”  FRIDAY replied. Steve frowned, wondering when Natasha had sent in the location of the facility before remembering it had been an eight hour flight and he’d been asleep for most of it. 

“How long ago did they leave?”  he asked. 

“They left in a quinjet approximately four hours and forty two minutes ago,”  FRIDAY answered. Steve nodded and the waiting room was silent. 

Steve fiddled with his bottle of medicine until a nurse came to tell him he could visit Natasha.  Every now and then he asked FRIDAY for updates on the team, but it didn’t do much to entertain him.  According to her, they had landed at the sight about fifteen minutes before he had asked. About thirty minutes after that update, a nurse walked into the waiting room. 

“She’s not awake, but you can go back now,”  she told him. Steve stood up quickly and followed the nurse back to her room. 

“What happened?”  Steve asked, wondering what had taken four hours longer than his own long examination. 

“The marks on her back had almost healed, so we didn’t have to do anything other than cover and wrap those,”  the nurse said. “Her shoulder needed stitches even if it had healed quite a bit already. However, we had to operate on her leg as there was an infection and the muscles had been torn.  She’d already begun healing incorrectly, so we had to correct the tissue before closing up.” 

“She’ll be okay, though?”  Steve asked. The nurse stopped in front of her room and Steve looked in to see Natasha fast asleep on the white bed. 

“Yeah, she’ll be perfectly fine,”  the nurse assured him. She opened the door and Steve walked into the room.  He made his way over to the chair next to her bed and sat down, taking her hand in his and looked at her. 

It had been two weeks since he’d seen her so peaceful.  Even when she had managed to fall asleep in their stupid Hydra cell, she looked worried and didn’t sleep well.  Now, filled with drugs and back in the Compound, she looked much more relaxed. 


	14. Chapter 14

Natasha was allowed to leave the hospital almost as soon as she woke up.  Her enhanced healing was able to work quicker after her long nap in the hospital bed and the assistance the doctors had provided.  She was nowhere near completely fine, but the Compound living quarters were just above the medical bay, so the doctors weren’t terribly concerned about letting her leave. 

“And you’re sure they’re okay?”  Natasha asked, slowly swinging her feet over her bed so she could stand. 

“Yes,”  Steve answered, holding out a hand to help her stand up.  She rolled her eyes but grabbed hold of it anyway and stood up.  “FRIDAY still has contact with Tony and according to the both of them, the first attack went well and the second one is just to make sure they can shut everything down.” 

“Good,”  Natasha replied.  She limped out of her room beside Steve, not releasing his hand even though she clearly didn’t need it anymore. 

“They’ll probably be back tomorrow,”  Steve said. Natasha nodded and they took the elevator up to the living quarters. 

Just as promised, their things had been taken up to their rooms.  Natasha ducked into her’s to change into something more comfortable and returned to Steve’s room in sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, her hair in a messy bun.  She leaned against his doorway and watched as he pulled on a fresh pair of sweatpants and reached for a shirt. 

“So, what do we do until the team returns?”  she asked. He jumped, tugging on a long sleeved shirt then turning around to face her.  She was smirking and he rolled his eyes. 

“We could watch a movie,”  he suggested. Natasha lit up at the idea and didn’t waste any time hobbling towards his bed.  He tossed her the TV remote and she turned on the TV to find something to watch. 

“You know what else we should do?”  Natasha asked, looking up at Steve who stood directly beside her. 

“Order takeout?”  he replied. 

“You know me so well,”  she grinned. Steve smiled back and found himself bending down to kiss her cheek before leaving the room.  Natasha froze, watching as he retreated down the hall and into the kitchen to order their food. After a few seconds of shock, she slowly turned back to the TV and scrolled through the channels.  It didn’t help her focus on what was playing when Steve returned a couple minutes later, climbing onto the bed beside her and pulling the covers over the both of them. 

“All ordered,”  he said, smiling at her.  “Should be here in half an hour or so.” 

“Awesome,”  she replied.  She continued to scroll through the channels until finding one that was playing  _ The Spy Who Dumped Me _ .  She paused and read the preview. 

“Sounds interesting,”  Steve said. Natasha nodded and selected it, not even blinking when it asked for confirmation to buy the movie.  Stark wouldn’t notice a couple dollars missing from his bank account. 

“How much do you want to bet it’s cheesy and not at all realistic?”  she teased, craning her neck to look up at him. 

“All things considered, I don’t feel safe taking that bet,”  he replied. She shrugged and leaned closer to him as the movie started. 

* * *

Natasha woke up in a sweat.  Her entire body was stiff with fear and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.  She closed her eyes, refusing to look around the room in case something looked back. However, she was met with the images from her nightmare as soon as her eyes closed and she forced herself to open them. 

“Nat?”  Steve groaned, shifting beside her.  Her heart jumped before remembering she’d fallen asleep with Steve once again. 

“Oh god,”  she breathed, letting out a breath of air and trying to relax.  Her thigh throbbed from being tense and she wanted to scream from her dream. 

“What’s wrong?”  Steve asked, sitting up.  “Nightmare?” 

“I’m fine,”  she insisted.  Steve carefully pulled her up so she was sitting beside him then pulled her into a hug.  She clung to him tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck. 

“What was it about?”  Steve asked softly. She just tightened her grip around his middle and he waited. 

“Red Room,”  she breathed a couple seconds later.  Steve gently rubbed her back, careful of the marks from the whip they had used on her even if they had mostly healed by now. 

“It’s okay,”  he told her. He turned his head and kissed her neck softly.  He continued to hug her until she slowly pulled away. It was a while before then, but when she finally began to release him, he let her go. 

“I’m going to go get water,”  she muttered. Steve nodded, watching as she slipped off his bed and limped towards the door.  She left it cracked just a bit as she walked out and down the hall. 

Steve waited for her to come back, but she didn’t.  After nearly fifteen minutes, he got up from his bed and followed her into the hall.  He could tell the kitchen light was on from the glow coming from around the corner and he heard quiet voices.  When he turned the corner, he saw Natasha hugging Wanda and the rest of the team trickling into the Compound. 

“Welcome back,”  Tony said, giving Steve a tired smile.  Steve nodded at him, noting how the oven clock read 5:32AM and how it was still dark out.  When he looked back at Natasha and Wanda, it appeared as though Natasha was comforting Wanda rather than the other way around. 

“It’s alright,”  Natasha said softly, running a hand over her head soothingly.  “No one expects you to be okay.” 

“I know,”  Wanda said, taking a shuddering breath.  Natasha held her tighter when she tried to object and Wanda stopped. 

“Go to sleep, Wanda,”  she said quietly. “You’ll feel better in the morning.” 

“Okay,”  Wanda whispered.  Natasha let her go and Wanda numbly walked down the hall to her bedroom.  Steve looked at Natasha questioningly. 

“The people in that facility were some who experimented on her,”  Natasha explained quietly. “Needless to say, she wasn’t expecting it.” 

“Other than that did everything go okay?”  Steve asked, glancing from Natasha to Tony to Sam.  They all nodded. 

“There were a few unexpected bumps along the way,”  Rhodey said. “But no one got horribly injured and the facility is in ruins along with everyone who worked there.” 

“Good,”  Steve replied.  He glanced at Natasha who was so close he could feel her body heat even though they weren’t touching.  She was staring ahead blankly and even though Steve knew they should probably go back to bed considering they had fallen asleep only four hours earlier, he doubted she’d want to after a nightmare; especially now that the team had returned. 

“What happened to you two?”  Sam asked, jerking his chin in their direction.  “Natasha just gave us the location and Fury told us to destroy everything and everyone inside.” 

“Our mission went a little haywire,”  Steve said. Sam raised an eyebrow, so Steve pulled down the sleeve of his shirt to reveal the bandage around his worst cut.  “Got ourselves captured and tortured for two weeks.” 

“You don’t look it,”  Sam said. Steve shrugged. 

“I was the lucky one,”  he replied. He glanced at Natasha who was still staring ahead blankly and gently nudged her.  She sucked in a sharp breath and snapped her head up to look at him. 

“What happened to you?”  Tony asked Natasha. She blinked once before answering, almost as if she had to take a moment longer to process his question. 

“A knife to the thigh,”  she said. She rolled back her shoulder and frowned slightly at the small stab of pain.  “And another to the shoulder.” 

“Don’t forget the broken ribs,”  Steve reminded her. “Or the bullet to the leg.  Also, there was the whip they used on you the first day.” 

“A whip?”  Rhodey choked out.  Natasha nodded and rubbed her arm. 

“Among other things,”  she replied. Steve frowned but didn’t ask any questions.  “I’m going to go check on Wanda,” she announced. She set down her water glass then turned and limped out of the kitchen, leaving Steve with the guys while she went to make sure Wanda was actually asleep and not continuing to blame herself for messing up their first attack. 


	15. Epilogue

Steve waited until Natasha had healed before reminding her she owed him a coffee.  It was about two weeks after they had returned from their mission and even though she was no longer limping, her thigh hadn’t completely healed.  There was a nasty white gash that would probably leave a scar and it still hurt when she applied pressure, but for the most part, she was back to normal.  Steve had figured it was safe to assume that the moment he landed on his back for the fourth time in a row during their sparring matches. 

“I told you,”  she smirked, sitting on top of him.  “All better.” 

“I guess this time I have to believe you,”  he replied. He sat up and she slid down until she was on his lap, facing him as they both stayed on the floor.  “I suppose now that you’re all better, I can remind you that you agreed to take me out to coffee.” 

“Did I really?”  Natasha asked, narrowing her eyes.  He hummed in confirmation. 

“Mhm,”  he replied.  “And I could go for some coffee right now.  What do you say?” 

“Let me get dressed,”  she said. He grinned and got up from the ground.  She was standing beside him before he could turn and offer her a hand up and they both headed up from the training room. 

“Don’t take too long,”  Steve called down the hall.  She gave him a middle finger and he chuckled as he walked into his own room.  He took a quick shower and got dressed into something casual. Once he was ready, he walked into the living room to wait for Natasha. 

“Headed somewhere?”  Sam asked, looking up from the TV where he and Wanda were watching a game show. 

“Town,”  Steve answered.  Sam smirked and Steve rolled his eyes.  “You’re just jealous.” 

“Of what?”  Sam laughed. 

“That he has a date and you don’t,”  Natasha said, walking up behind Steve.  She put a hand on the small of his back and smirked down at Sam who was clearly trying to hide his shock. 

“No, I’m not,”  he told her. Natasha raised an eyebrow. 

“Then you wouldn’t be jealous if I did this?”  she asked, stepping on her tip toes to kiss Steve’s cheek.  He turned red and Sam did as well. “What about this?” She kissed the edge of his lips and both boys turned redder.  “Would this make you jealous?” 

“Just go!”  Sam yelled, covering his eyes and waving for them to leave.  Natasha laughed and grabbed Steve’s hand, dragging him towards the stairs. 

“Don’t be jealous!”  she yelled back at him. 

“I’m not!”  he replied. 

* * *

Natasha and Steve ended up spending the whole morning in town.  After grabbing coffee, they decided to walk down a few blocks to a nearby park and then walked around it a couple times.  It wasn’t too cold outside even though it was overcast and cloudy, but not that many people were out. No one approached them the entire time they walked the park, but Natasha had the feeling that had mainly to do with her and nothing at all to do with Steve.  People surely knew who both of them were and after the fall of SHIELD, she wasn’t surprised that the public didn’t seem to like her. 

“ _ Dee-reh-vah _ ,”  Steve repeated.  Natasha hadn’t stopped laughing from the last time Steve had tried to pronounce the Russian word and erupted into even more giggles if that was possible (Steve was pretty sure mentioning the fact that she was giggling would basically garuntee his death). 

“Closer,”  she said. She repeated it again and seemed satisfied when Steve repeated it once more.  “Your accent is horrible, but it’ll get there someday.” 

“Maybe you should just teach me phrases instead of stupid things like how to say ‘tree’,”  Steve suggested. Natasha rolled her eyes but agreed. 

“What do you want to know?”  she asked. Steve paused, trying to think up what he’d want to say. 

“How do you say ‘How are you’?”  he asked. 

“ _ Kak tvoi dela _ ,”  she said.  Steve stumbled through the phrase and Natasha keeled over in laughter.  He smiled and tried again, just making her laugh even more. She repeated it again, slower this time, and he copied her as best he could. 

“Better?”  he asked when she didn’t laugh as much. 

“Yes,”  she replied.  She stopped and turned to face him, smiling as she said, “Now say it to me.” 

“ _ Kak trov dela? _ ”  he said.  She grinned at his mispronunciation then gave a short reply.  He blinked. “What?” 

“I said ‘wonderful’,”  she told him. “You asked how I was and I replied with ‘wonderful’.” 

“Well, I’m glad you’re not doing awful,”  Steve said, smiling down at her. He could have sworn she was blushing before she turned away and continued down the path.  He took a couple long strides to catch up with her and managed to grab her hand, effectively stopping her in her footsteps. 

“What?”  she asked, still a little pink cheeked. 

“This is a date, right?”  he asked. She tilted her head just a little in confusion. 

“Isn’t that what you wanted it to be when you asked?”  she replied. He nodded. “Then yeah, it’s a date.” 

“So then I can do this?”  he asked. He moved his hands from her hand to her face and leaned down just enough to kiss her.  It was short and sweet, not pushing any boundaries but making it clear he wanted to kiss her and it wasn’t an accident.  When he pulled away, it was just far enough he could see her reaction. 

“Yeah,”  she said softly, eyes still closed and her forehead pressed against his.  “Yeah, I suppose you can do that.” 

Steve didn’t need any more of an invitation to kiss her again, this time longer but no less sweet.  When he pulled away, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She smiled against his shoulder and hugged him back.  She grinned even more when she felt him press a small kiss to the side of her head. 


End file.
